I’m Chika and the woman scientist I will be focusing on is Ada Byron who is also known as The Countess of Lovelace. I choose her because I was impressed to know that the first blueprint of a computer was made with a woman’s help. Also, the fact that her father was Lord Byron interested me because I thought “I wonder how his child turned out?” They both did work in completely different fields but they still influenced the world so my curiosity got the best of me. I think Ada Byron is a good role model because she strived to keep learning in a time period where intelligence was frownedupon in a woman. She also made an impact in the world with her Bernoulli number program even though she was acknowledged for her work long after her death. I will do my best to find out all I can on The Countess of Lovelace. I hope you will be impressed with my research.

Ada Augusta Byron, The Countess of Lovelace

Children of celebrities are assumed to have the best of everything in life. From schooling to clothes to access of money, in the eyes of normal people they seem to have it all. But in the case of Ada Byron, The Countess of Lovelace, her life was the exact opposite. She was born on December 10th, 1815 to Lord George Byron and Anna Milbanke. Shortly after her birth, her
infamous poet of a father separated from her mother. Although Milbanke was extremely cautious when taking her daughter out of the house for fear of her being stolen away by Byron, her worries were of her own imagination because Byron could not even afford to take his legitimate daughter with him out of the country. Once he left England, he never saw Ada again. With Byron gone, Milbanke wanted to make sure that Ada would be nothing like her father so she was tutored in math rather than in literature. Even though, Ada never actually knew her father she sympathized with him and would not let her mother’s harsh remarks over his person and character affect her feelings toward him. When she turned 17, Ada was introduced to an older man named Charles Babbage who was developing what we now know is a computer. Interested in his findings, Ada continued to learn more about mathematics to assist Babbage in his work even after marrying Lord William King and bearing him three children. Her math tutors consisted of William Frend, Mary Somerville, and Augustus De Morgan.With their help she was able to develop her own theories and notes, mainly her notes on Bernoulli numbers, and translate Babbage’s work to the general English public (L.F. Menabrea wrote about Babbage’s work in French). Unfortunately, on November 27th, 1852 she died of uterine cancer. Her last wish was to be buried beside her father who she had never known. Her contribution to Babbage’s work is the reason why people have access to computers today and she should be remembered fondly as the first woman computer programmer.

Augustus De Morgan vs. Ada Byron, The Countess of Lovelace

In a presentation I conducted last week, I chose Augustus De Morgan, a fellow mathematician, to compare Ada Byron, The Countess of Lovelace, with. Although the most logical choice for a male scientist comparison would have been Charles Babbage, I felt it would be more of a challenge finding another person who had been previously acquainted with Byron. Augustus De Morgan had, at one point of Ada Byron’s life, been her tutor. He was the person who actually taught Byron the Bernoulli numbers in the first place. It was with his help that she can be called first computer programmer.

Compare and contrast of The Countess of Lovelace and Augustus De Morgan

Academic
Backgrounds:

De Morgan- Private Schools, Trinity College/Cambridge

Lovelace-
Tutors

Permanent
Positions:

De Morgan- Professor of Mathematics of London University

Lovelace-
Wife/Mother

Compensation:

De Morgan- Yes

Lovelace-
No

Promotion:

De Morgan- President of the Mathematical Society

Lovelace-
None

Awards:

De Morgan- Crater of the moon and the Headquarters of the London Mathematical Society named after him.

Lovelace-
Has an Ada Lovelace Day and a computer language named after her.

Negative/Positive
Affect on Family Life:

De Morgan- Was the breadwinner
of his family so he had to have a job

Lovelace-
Her work with Babbage was considered her hobby so it did not disrupt her family life.

During the 17th century, women did not have any rights to their person and everything was handled by the men in their families. In Ada Byron’s case, since her father was dead then her mother was able to take care of everything including her education. However this meant that she as to get tutors or a governess. At the time there weren’t schools for just girls yet so
this is why Augustus De Morgan was able to go to private school while Byron did not. Although women did not have many opportunities for job, Byron could have been a governess but that would have been below her station in life. De Morgan, on the other hand, had to constantly have a job so he could provide for his family. Both of their awards came after their death, so in that particular category they are tied. So in the end, De Morgan benefited during his lifetime because he was male. Due to how the gender roles were assigned during their lifetime, men would have power in all things and that is why De Morgan could do more why Byron could not. Men could get more money while women could not. Men could achieve more things while women could not; the list goes on. However if Byron had lived in our time then she could have had a chance to develop her mathematical expertise. She could have really gone head to head with De Morgan and could have won but that is something we will never find out.

WITI: Women in Technology International and the Countess of Lovelace

Women in Technology International is an organization dedicated to advancement of women in technology. It began in 1989 as an email based network business by Carolyn Leighton. The organization has 140,000+ registered members which include men as well. The primary mission statement is to empower women. WITI is like a huge support group that asks for dues and gives classes on leadership and technology. Women in the group help each other with conflicts by providing advice and make sure to NOT bash men. They want to be recognized as a formulation of women trying to better themselves and make connections on the way and not as women who are bitter to what other men receive in their working system. From what information can be found about WITI, Ada Byron would have been a part of the organization had she had been alive when it was created. Byron never had the chance to develop her computer skills so WITI’s values and principles would have benefited her in the field she was trying to branch out in. Furthermore, without Ada Byron, WITI would have never been created so each side has a give and take aspect that contributes to the other. They both stand for stepping outside of the box and
differentiating themselves from anybody else; a motto we can all live by.

The ultimate reason for the use of this blog is for my FSEM 100 F8 Beauty and Brains- Women in the Sciences 2011 class. It is ment to provide my classmates at the University of Mary Washington with information on the presentations I will be doing this semester.

WITI, or Women in Technology International is a company devoted to helping women gain presence in the higher ranks of americas businesses. WITI was founded in 1989 by Carolyn Leighton when email was first gaining popularity, Leighton used this new technology to start a network of women in companies and businesses wiling to hire other women in technology and foster the growth of more females in CEO, CFO and mid-mangement positions. Now 13 years later WITI is backed by corporations such as Disney, Google and many many more big-name businesses which just goes to show how successful WITI has become.

Hello! My name is Caroline Arnold and I have previously posted about the female scientist, Grace Hopper, and about comparing the computer scientists Alan Turning and Grace Hopper. I am writing this blog for my Freshman Seminar class called “Beauty and Brains- Women in the Sciences.”

Last week I presented to my class about an organization called ACM-W, which stands for Association for Computer Machinery for women. This organization was formed in the late 1980s as a branch or sub-organization of ACM, which was founded in 1947. This organization currently consists of 15,005 members. It also consists of the ACM-W council and the ACM-W executive board. The primary mission of ACM-W is to celebrate, inform, and support women in computing and to improve working and learning environments for women. It also allows the representation of women in computer science to be more equal and fair.

Considering that Grace Hopper was a female computer scientist, I definitely think it is likely that she would belong to this organization. She faced many hardships being a female in the computer science field, however, always put up a strong fight and gave one hundred percent to her work. I believe Grace Hopper would join this organization to help spread information about females in the computer science field and to encourage other females to peruse this career. She would be an excellent and effective member of the ACM-W because this organization definitely supports her views and interests.

The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses also known as AWHONN was
founded in 1969 as the Nurses Association of the American College of Obstetrics
and Gynecology. The organization AWHONN is a stem formed in 1993 which is
non-profit and separate from the original Nurses Association made in 1969.

Is it still in Existence Today?

Yes it still exists today. They have their very own website, they host conventions such as
the one that is coming soon at Washington, DC Area, they have webinars/courses
online, and more.
“There are 52 sections (one for each state, plus one that represents Canada, and one that
represents members in the US Armed Forces). Within each section, there are
local chapters.”

Primary Mission

The primary mission of the AWHONN is to promote the health of women and newborns.

AWHONN publishes Standards for Professional Nursing Practice in the Care of Women
and Newborns. These standards define the roles, functions and competencies
of nurses caring for women and newborns and delineate the various roles and
behaviors for which the professional nurse is accountable

How to become a part of it?

To become a part of the association you just have to make an account and sign up on their
website.

Though it didn’t say the actual composition of women & men in the group I assume there is more
females who are involved in this group then men.

Does UMW have a chapter of this organization?The University of Mary Washington does not have a chapter of this organization, however any
student interested in the organization could start a group if they wanted to.

Would Kathryn D. Sullivan become a part of
this Organization?

I don’t think Kathryn D. Sullivan would be a part of this organization, even though it deals
with science, women, and more. It deals with the medical field which is not
what she is usually involved in. The associations she is a part of are the ones
she got awards from or that deal with her field of study in geology and Space.

Connecting Sullivan and the Association

Projects involving NASA/ Geology would most likely interest Sullivan to the
organization. Since the mission of the AWHONN is to promote health of women and
newborns something that revolves around: The health of women in space & the
effect of having a baby in space and why it can’t be done.

Would I consider joining this Organization?

Yes it is a field of study that interest me along with the fact that I am a woman and I not now
but in the future I want to have my own kids someday. I find it an interesting
organization that seeks to help out and inform women and nurses. It is a way to
keep everything up in high standards which is what I like about it.

Yes, She is a professional women and both science and educational careers are represented. She would encourage NAPW to do more work with inspiring younger girls, rather than focusing all their attention on teaching each other.